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If you don't have a need or want for the trailer stability program in the ESP, don't need the dashboard warning light to tell you you have a trailer attached (in case you weren't aware), don't need bulb warning for blown trailer lights (I do a quick check each time I plug mine in...) and have a manual button or other means to disable the rear parking sensors, then you can simply use a standard aftermarket lights bypass relay module. A bypass module will ensure the trailer wiring does not interfere with the cars electrical circuit for the bulb warning feature, and generally reduces any loads on the cars stock light wiring loom.
I looked (briefly) for a OEM/OES module for my D2. Westfalia and Audi have discontinued anything to do with tow hitches for the D2, so I simply turned to a bypass relay module (5 or 7 pin for standard Australian plugs - we earth through the plug, not the hitch) and found it extremely easy to wire as the rear lights have handy spade connectors on them, and the battery is right there for power.
I was going to try and source an ignition live for the module, but it gives no power drain when not functioning (it only powers when one of the lighting circuits is active), so for now it gets power directly from the battery. Only had to run a single wire across the back of the car for the left hand indicator.
Check with Westfalia to find out if their bar is aluminium. It was for the D2 (the main mounting bar was anyway). The Bosal bar is almost certainly steel.
It would be reasonably safe, but in the long term steel may cause corrosion issues in the vicinity of the mounts.
I keep an occasional eye on mine, as the AutoHak bar I have is steel too, but Australia has nowhere near the corrosion issues of countries with snow.
The westfalia D3 one is most certainly steel.
Looks like I'll be going with the BOSAL one for £321.00 delivered to Chicago. Considering the LEDs on my boat trailer, I won't be spending the extra cash for euro 7 pin plug, I'll just get the relay kit and tap into the tail lights.
almost has to be. You pull off the bumper skin, remove the aluminum bar behind it and the compression shocks, end then bolt in the steel unit that reaches into those frame like tubes where the (big) bumper shocks came out. Very substantial construction and tie into the strong parts of the rear of the D3. Carefully washered/sleeved to deal with the aluminum to steel join points.
The final tow bar with the ball is aluminum, with a theoretically replaceable ball head that is presumably some kind of steel. I think its 52mm, so a very close match to U.S. 2" standard stuff. It couples underneath to a hidden vertical mount point (instead of the U.S. 2" box stuff). That final arm is a work of casting art. Wiring is in a pull down hidden connection point, ending at a many pronged DIN standard connector. All classic German high end stuff, and priced likewise.
Here are some photos of the installed Curt hitch. Modification to the bumper cover was minor.
-JT
Thanks for the pics. The trimming does look minor...not what I was expecting. Was there a template for the trimming included in the box/instructions or did you have to guess at it?
I had to guess at the trimming. I took a Dremel tool with a cutting wheel and cut out a piece of the appropriate width, then placed the bumper cover back in place to see if it was enough. Then I trimmed a bit more. It doesn't need to be exact since it's rather hidden from view.
I use mine for a bike rack too. I get better mileage with the bike on the back, where it drafts behind the car, versus on the roof.
Installing the hitch receiver was a snap save for removal and replacement of the bumper cover. Trailer light wiring was a pain but now that I know how to do it it's a snap too. Check my old posts to see which wires to tap into and with which Hopkins converter.
Template is actually (faintly) there for Westfalia
When I went to do it, I found faint lines molded into the inside of the W12's bumper cover that matched right up to the Westfalia hitch cutout. Surprised me actually, and I didn't really notice the molded lines until I went to overlay the template. IIRC, I went a bit smaller on the cut out area for the electrical swing down connection point. Easy work with a cordless drill for a few starting points and then a Dremel with a cutting bit to fashion the cut out. You honestly can't see any of it even when leaning over to wash the bumper. You have to essentially put your head underneath the rear center bumper area to see anything is actually there.
Since I had the bumper cover off, I then took it loose to a local body shop and had a few unrelated and pretty obvious old cuts from a prior garage door run in filled and sanded, and then the whole thing resprayed before I re-installed it.
I went with the cheap Curt hitch receiver from etrailer.com and a Hopkins trailer light converter from Amazon and have been happy with the arrangement.
The converter has a power lead that goes to the + side of your battery and the ground lead goes to ground (there's a good ground by the passenger tail light in the battery compartment).
The rest of the converter wires connect to wires coming from your car's comfort system central control module, which sits just above the battery:
On the module's brown, 15-pin plug:
1) gray/green = license plate light (comes on with headlights). Used as feed signal for trailer tail lights.
2) blue/white = right rear turn signal light. Used as feed signal for trailer right turn signal.
3) lilac/green = left rear turn signal light. Used as feed signal for trailer left turn signal.
On the module's blue, 32-pin plug:
1) black/red (pin 10) = high-mount brake light (gets a steady 12-volt only when brake pedal is pressed). Used as feed signal for trailer brake lights.
Got the BOSAL tow hitch today, it's in crazy heavy! Good machining and welding all over; I'll snap some pics tonight.
From what I can tell, the only difference between the westfalia and bosal hitch is the hitch part itself - the bosal one is all steel, where as the westfalia looks alloy. The locking mechanism also seems a bit different.
07-18-2014, 05:07 AM
